#ReppingTCB

DANIEL ROMAN PROVED MORE THAN READY FOR THE BIG TIME

By Barbara Pinnella – They say that patience is a virtue, and right now that could not apply to anyone more than it does to Daniel “The Baby Faced Assassin” Roman. With his upset victory back in January over Adam Lopez, Roman earned a title shot against Nehomar Cermeno, but Cermeno lost his belt in April to Shun Kubo. So where does that leave Danny? With a fight against Kubo, of course.

Roman has been out of the ring for a long time, and he is used to being active. When this fight takes place it will be a couple of more months that he has been out of action. But he doesn’t blame anyone, and now he doesn’t have to wait and wonder any longer. We now know that Danny’s fight will take place on September 3 in Kyoto, Japan.

“That fight is mandatory,” Danny told TOPCLASSBOXING. “I was getting a little bit nervous about what’s going on, but I kept calm. This is new for me, this level, so I don’t know if it usually takes this long. I am used to fighting every other month and would like to fight, but I don’t want anything to happen in between. I don’t want to get cut or suffer a hand injury.”

Man Down: Daniel Roman Drops Adam Lopez – Pic By Jason Robles

Needless to say, Danny’s last fight with Lopez was his biggest fight to date, and his second time on national television.

“It was a title eliminator. We found that out a couple of weeks before the fight. But I always keep myself ready and train hard. And that keeps me motivated for what I’m heading for – the world title.

“I thought the Lopez fight was going to be a really tough fight for me, but I stuck to the game plan and everything came out great.”

“He’s a pretty strong fighter,” Roman continued. “He can hit, I felt it. He got me in the first or second round with a good right hand, and I took the punch, so I thought, ‘Ya know what, I can take his punches. It was a great experience for me, and I didn’t let being on TV affect me. I just kept focused on the game plan.”

Roman is not only patient, he is loyal. He has been with Thompson Boxing Promotions and trainer Eddie Gonzalez since he turned professional. After all, as they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and things are certainly running as a well-oiled machine.

Danny started boxing at the age of seven. He was playing soccer, but was getting beat up. His dad sent him to the gym, where at that time his uncle, cousin, and brother were boxing. He has been in the gym ever since. His association with trainer Gonzalez has evolved over many years.

“When I was 10, I went to a gym called Punch Boxing. Eddie was right there. I knew all the kids at the gym, but then the gym closed and everyone went their separate ways. I knew Eddie when I was in the amateurs. When I turned pro I went to Eddie and we got back together again. Eddie and Thompson are a great team, and I’m not changing!”

“I am very happy with his career,” Gonzalez said. “I mean, what can I say? The kid is a disciplined individual who works very hard. His whole life is boxing and church. I can’t ask for more than that. I have had really good fighters who had a bad attitude, and I am running away from those bad attitudes.

“I don’t have a lot of fighters because I am a very disciplined individual and I have very high expectations of people. They need to have a good work ethic, because that’s what I bring to the gym. If they cannot give me that, then I don’t want to work with them. I have Isaac (Zarate) and Danny, and both of them are very disciplined.”

As previously stated, Roman was very happy with the performance he gave in his fight against Lopez. He was not the only one, as Eddie had a lot of compliments of his own.

“He was fabulous, I have to admit! I told him prior to the fight, ‘Danny, you have to do a perfect fight, or else we’re gonna lose this fight.’ I knew we were gonna stop the opponent, I told that to our promoter. I told that to SHOWTIME, and SHOWTIME laughed at us. After the fight, they came in and apologized to us. They admitted that Danny had all the goods.”

Having been able to watch Roman for some time here in Southern California, I knew what he was, but the announcers did not. Lopez was not supposed to lose that fight – no way. But as the fight progressed they were giving Danny more and more credit for the job he was so obviously doing, and how poised he was. It was great to see him get to showcase his skills to a wider audience.

“I told Danny that he was a great fighter with all the tools, but nobody knows him except for the local people here. I said that once they see him on television they will fall in love with his style, and that’s exactly what happened.”

The fact that his opponent will be Kubo, who has only fought in Japan, does not matter to Danny. He does not care if he fights here, in Japan, or anywhere else. He just wants to fight. Nor does Roman or Gonzalez care about Shun’s record of 12-0, 9 KOs, compared to Danny’s at 22-2-1, 8 KOs. They are also not concerned with the fact that Roman only has eight knockouts.

“Danny is not only a skilled fighter, he is strong. Now it is time for him to show everyone just how much power he has. He stopped Lopez, and that is just the beginning. Those knockouts are there and now people will see that.”

Danny does not go out and party. Instead, when he is not in the gym and has some rare time off, he takes it easy.

“I like reading books and going out with my friends, and I’m in church a lot as well. I’m a Christian, so I like to participate and be involved in church. But I can’t rest easily because I always have the fight in my mind. I think after the fight is done I will be able to rest even more, but since I don’t know when that call is going to come I have to keep myself ready.”

Obviously right now Danny’s heart and mind are in the boxing ring. He has set goals in that profession that he wants to achieve. But when he is finished, he is looking to be a police officer. That’s what he was studying in college, but boxing is a 100% commitment, so that is were the focus is right now.

“But boxing is not forever,” Roman told us. “So I decided to go with boxing as long as I can, and after that I will pursue my other career. You never know what the future holds, but that’s my plan.”

The future certainly seems bright for this articulate, polite, handsome young man. We at TOPCLASSBOXING want to wish him all the best both in boxing, and whatever he chooses to do in the future, be it becoming a police officer or any other career path he might take. But first things first – GOOD LUCK IN JAPAN THIS SEPTEMBER!!!!